


a stitch in time

by pineovercoat



Series: Master Riku (or How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Consume the Darkness, Return it to Light) [1]
Category: Kingdom Hearts, The Nightmare Before Christmas (1993)
Genre: ...light body horror? (it's in the spirit of Nightmare so nothing bad), Friendship, Gen, Halloween Town (Nightmare Before Christmas), Light Angst, Light-Hearted, additionally: soriku if you squint
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-31
Updated: 2018-10-31
Packaged: 2019-08-14 00:10:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,565
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16482386
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pineovercoat/pseuds/pineovercoat
Summary: Sally (that is her name, right?) turns around and fixes her eyes on him, an expression of the most polite interest on her face. It might be scarier than anything he’s seen in Halloween Town thus far.





	a stitch in time

**Author's Note:**

> ...saves nine!
> 
> happy halloween :)

“Hey, excuse me,” Riku begins, and then… doesn’t quite know how to continue.

Sally (that _is_ her name, right?) turns around and fixes her eyes on him, an expression of the most polite interest on her face. It might be scarier than anything he’s seen in Halloween Town thus far. He glances a touch desperately after Sora, who’s already a few paces ahead, chattering away with Jack Skellington- the Pumpkin King, or so he’s given to understand. No help to be had there.

Resigned to the awkwardness of the situation, he extends a very spirited arm towards the rag doll woman he’s just met. Almost like a handshake. He grimaces. “I, uh. I think you dropped this.”

Talk about an ice-breaker.

“Oh!” she says, eyes going wide, and looks from the loose threads and leaves hanging from where her right arm is _supposed_ to be to where it waves animatedly back at her from Riku’s own hand. “I do believe I have!” 

Somehow, she manages to look only mildly inconvenienced and not at all horrified.

Halloween Town really is something else, Riku thinks, from its rolling hills full of graves and pumpkins and grinning firelight faces all the way down to its denizens unperturbed by their limbs falling off in the street.

Sally tuts down at her still waving hand and tucks her hair behind her ears. The look she gives Riku is apologetic, but equally resigned. He finds some small comfort in that, at least.

“I know you’ve just given me an arm, but- Riku, was it?” He nods. “I believe I could use a hand as well.”

Her good humor throws him, and Sora’s back isn't offering any more answers than Riku’s own brain. She waits patiently, the picnic basket she’s carrying in her other hand extended towards him. It’s not expectant exactly, but it is hopeful. Anxiety needles at him briefly, that lingering unease in the back of his head that loves its worst case scenarios, that tells him his touch is poison, _you can’t protect anything_ - 

But helping isn’t about him. That’s something he's learning and re-learning what feels like every day.

“I... Yeah. Of course. No problem.”

“Oh, thank you so much!” She lifts her hand up like she’s about to clap excitedly, but stops short, making a face. Charmed, he only just manages to disguise his laugh as a cough. She catches it anyway and smiles, shaking her head. “I do tend to forget. It can be embarrassing.”

“Not at all,” Riku says. He takes the basket from her, tucking it in the crook of one elbow, and switches her arm to his other hand. It gives him the thumbs up. “I think I’d forget too.”

Smiling gratefully, she gestures for him to stand at her side and hold her arm in place beneath the torn seam. “I’ll only be a moment. It’ll be much easier this way, thank you!”

“I can imagine.” He keeps his grip steady while she produces a needle from behind her ear, and digs in through the folds of her dress for thread. She carries them with her, Riku observes, frowning. “Does this... happen a lot?”

“Oh, yes,” she says, nodding absently. “But it’s alright. I’ve gotten quite good at putting myself back together.” 

And it really does seem like she’s an old hand at it, what with how she quickly takes point, adjusting the tension while directing Riku to scoop up handfuls of the leaves at their feet. She moves fast and neat, looping stitches between the upper and lower halves of her own arm easily. Riku watches her work with a growing admiration.

Up ahead, Sora and Jack have finally stopped. He manages to catch Sora’s eye, glaring in a way that he hopes conveys exactly how abandoned he’s feeling right now, but Sora just grins, shrugs, and makes a face like ‘ _looks like you’ve already got it covered_ ’. To his credit, Jack does step forward, but Sora throws out a hand to stop him. They trade a few brief words, nod in what has to be agreement, and then Sora’s flapping his hands at Riku like he’s shoo-ing him on. Riku can practically feel his hands shoving him along by the back, insisting he go on and make some friends already, or something else equally Sora-esque. Honestly, that voice is starting to sound more and more like his own as the days go by. It’s not a bad thing.

Sally hums, sounding thoughtful, and Riku’s attention snaps back to her. She’s stepped closer, reaching out to pluck a few leaves from Riku’s cupped palms with care. The rest, she lets blow away in the wind, to scuttle across the ground like spiders creeping down the cobblestone and onto the grey earth. He watches it all with silent interest, grateful that he’s not really being expected to speak, but can’t find any pattern to her selection, no rhyme or reason at all- only that once she decides, she stuffs them all back inside her arm with equal exasperation and impatient muttering.

Pursing her lips, she inspects another leaf, which passes the test. She tucks it in with the rest and he leans in closer so the wind won’t steal them from her. She uses the motion as cover to duck forward and whisper to him; her long red yarn hair acts as her accomplice, falling along the side of her face and hiding their conversation from view. 

“You do seem like you know what you’re doing,” she remarks. “Not like Jack. I get the feeling you’ve done this before- but your seams are a bit neater than mine. I can hardly see them at all!”

All Riku can do is stare, dumbstruck. 

Her face dimples, her eyes twinkling, and she extends the needle towards him. “Would you mind terribly pulling this thread for me?”

Mutely, he does, pulling the stitches taut under her guidance until she nods, satisfied. “That should do it! Do you think you can help me close it? I can manage it alone, but it is always easier with a friend. I'll take that back, so it's not as hard on you.” With a wave, she indicates the basket.

Riku presses his lips into a thin line and ducks his head. Rather than speak, he hands it over, already focused on finishing the seam with a secure knot. Heat builds behind his eyes. He blinks it away. It must be something about this place. The full moon, maybe. He lays down one stitch, and then another, the shining point of the needle barely poking back through her arm. Taking his time, he wraps three loops of the excess thread about the stalk, checks the tension, and satisfied it’ll hold, he pulls the stitch closed.

“Oh, that’s lovely work,” Sally says. “That should hold for some time! Thank you!”

He nods, but can’t look her in the eye. Always easier with a friend... how did she know? He swallows. “You have learn to take care of yourself, when you’re on your own,” he says slowly, struggling to find the right words. It's much easier to wind the black thread around his fingers and snap it free. “Things don’t just fix themselves.”

“Oh no, of course not,” she agrees. But they’re not just talking about sewing. They haven’t been for some time. She glances down the path towards Jack, who waves. Sally returns the gesture, holding up a finger to show that they'll be just a minute, and Sora flashes her a thumbs up.

“Sally-” Riku begins.

As polite as possible, she cuts him off, indicating their friends up ahead. “But you’re not on your own anymore! So you don’t have to put yourself back together all alone.”

He follows the movement, his heart panging in his chest. She’s right. She’s absolutely right. It’s something that he knows well, but even so, sometimes, he can’t help falling back into the same patterns. The reminder’s about enough to knock him flat. It’s like Sora said, back then- why did you try to do so much on your own?

The basket swings in the crook of her arm as she moves, dangerously close to spilling their dinner. Riku reaches out to steady it with his free hand, already feeling lighter.

“No,” he says, grateful. “I guess not. Thank you, Sally.”

A quiet joy spreads across her face. “Not at all. You know, I’ve always believed one of the best things you can do is take what you’ve learned and share it with your friends. That way, even when you’re not there, you’re with them. But it's just as important to teach them how to take care of _you_ , too. Friends want to look after each other, after all.”

She takes the needle from him, tucking it back into its hiding place behind her ear, and gently places her newly restored hand on his. Surprised, Riku meets her eyes. She favors him with another smile.

“If it’s alright with you,” she says, “I think I should quite like to be your friend, Riku.”

It’s strange, he thinks. Time and again, as he travels the worlds, he finds the brightest lights in the darkest of places. But really, in the end, it isn't that strange at all.

Riku smiles back, delighted to be so humbled again.

“Yeah,” he says. “I think I’d like that too.”

**Author's Note:**

> gosh i can't get links to work but thanks to sirladysketch and parkadescandal for read throughs and words of encouragement ur the best


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